Almost
by LunaInTheSky
Summary: "how did you figure out how to get into the girl's dorm, Potter?" He held up his broomstick. "Um, hello. The window." "... Damn." she said. He smirked.
1. Through the Window

**Almost**

**Lily and James**

_Lily was in the arms of Amos Diggory. They were on a beach in France, and her white sundress was flowing behind her in the sea breeze. He tilted her chin up so that it rested on his chest._

"_Lily," he said. "I love-"_

"_EVANS!" a voice much louder than normal broke out above them. "HEY, EVANS!"_

"_What?" Lily asked; confused by the voice._

"_I love-" but then again, louder still,_

"_DAMMIT, EVANS! EVANS! WAKE UP!"_

Lily jerked awake, and the first thing she saw was hazel eyes with glasses over them, and then the rest of Potter's face inches from her own.

"AH-" she started to scream, but he clapped a hand over her mouth. Standing up straight, he whispered,

"Merlin, Evans. Calm down."

She shoved his hand away roughly and hissed,

"Potter! What are you- _how _did you-"

"I heard you whispering a name in your sleep." he interrupted in a whisper. "Amos Diggory's."

She could feel a deep blush creeping over her cheeks.

"And?" she mustered.

"Why?" he asked.

_Change the subject!_ "How'd you get into the _girls _dormitory?" Lily hissed. She heard Julia stirring in her sleep in the next bed. Potter heard too, and looked up nervously.

"Scarred you cousin'll find you in here, Potter?"

"Honestly," he whispered back. "I'm just glad _Sirius_ hasn't figured out how to get in here."

"Which brings us back to: _how did you figure it out, Potter?_"

He held up his broomstick. "Um, hello. The window."

"... Damn." she said.

He smirked.

Another question burned Lily's insides.

"Why are you here?" She asked in.

"Because I-"

"Mmmm?" Julia was waking up.

Potter's eyes grew round.

"Uh..." he thought for only a second. "Come on!" he hissed, and grabbed Lily's arm and ran to the bathroom. Before he shut the door, they heard,

"Lily?" footsteps. A knock on the bathroom door.

"Hey, Lily? Are you alright?"

James stared at Lily. She cleared her throat and said,

"Yeah, I'm fine... Going to the bathroom. Go back to sleep, Julia."

Footsteps sounded and her mattress creaked as she laid back down. James was staring at Lily in disbelief.

"Now," Lily whispered. "Kindly tell me _what the hell you are doing in my room!_"

He tilted his head like a curious child and a crease formed between his eyebrows.

"Remus said it'd be romantic... It's not working?"

She sighed. "No, Potter. Mostly you just woke me up from a great dream."

"About Amos?" His face fell as he spoke.

Lily closed her eyes. "Yes, James. About Amos."

He looked at the floor.

"So you really don't like me. I thought... All these years... You were just saying that... But I guess you really _don't_ like me..."

"Don't say it like that," Lily interrupted, sightly upset that he was continuing this charade.

"Well, it's true-"

"No it's not!" she cut him off. "You only like me because I'm the only one who says no! Because you like the challenge! You've never really... Never really cared... It's no skin off your bones... I'm only one person-"

He stared at her in disbelief.

"You really think that?"

"Yes, James!"

He stepped closer. "Then I'm doing something wrong."

He pushed hair off her face gently and she could feel his breath on her neck. It sent shivers down her back.

"Don't," she said before she thought about it, and she took a step away. He stood looking at her for a pregnant pause, then sighed and said,

"Good night, Lily." he took a step towards the door.

"You called me Lily." she whispered.

"You called me James... Twice."

She heard the bathroom door creak open behind her as he made to leave.

"Don't get used to it, Potter." She said.

He chuckled as he shut the door.

**Love it? Hate it? Full opinion please! Should I continue and make it a full story, or leave it here? =D let me know!**


	2. Dream Come True

**Okay, so majority said they'd like to continue so... here we go! *nervous smile***

Lily Evans is not a morning person.

Well, what sixteen year old girl is? She likes to sleep. So, when Julia Potter carelessly tossed her night gown onto Lily's bed (while she was sleeping) Lily groaned loudly and pulled the hangings around her bed.

"No Lily," said Mary. "Wake-y wake-y!"

Lily snored loudly.

Mary made to speak again, but Julia held up her hand and pointed her wand at Lily's bed. A little purple light flew and disappeared in between the hangings, and a second later a loud bang went off and Lily screamed.

"I'M A PREFECT!" She shouted, pulling back her bed hangings to reveal a charred face and blankets.

Julia nodded. "I know. So is Remus Lupin. We've known since last year-"

"Well, me, Mary and Julia are going to breakfast now, you should get in the shower and get clean- and um- bye!" Violet ushered, knowing that if they didn't leave now, things would get nasty.

Down in the common room, James and Sirius were leading a cheer for the Quidditch game later. They stood on two arm chairs, shouting, "GO GO GRYFFINDOR! GO GO GRYFFINDOR!" and punching the air in front of them. The other Gryffindors were standing around them, yelling the same.

Julia yanked on James' sleeve.

"Hey! Quidditch today! Last game! We're in it to win it!" he said loudly, and the Gryffindors cheered again.

"Where's Remus?" she asked.

He smiled coyly. "Why?" he made 'kissy' faces.

"Because," she answered. "I have a question."

"Oh?" he said. Julia nodded. But Remus chose right then to come down the boy's dormitory stairs and James grinned and pointed, and went back to cheering with Sirius.

Remus looked like hell. Like just walking made him tired. But of course, Julia saw him like this once a month. She knew why he looked like this, and she chose not to comment on it.

"Remus!" she said, fast walking towards him.

He nodded shyly, and she laughed.

"We've known each other for six years, Remus. We've been dating for _two_. Get over it. Now let's talk about James and Lily..."

Lily came down the stairs running late, but considerably happier than when she first woke up. She'd remembered what had happened last night with James, and how he'd come into her room. Just to be sure she hadn't been dreaming, she'd checked the window for shoe marks. She hadn't been dreaming. James really came into her room because he thought it'd be romantic.

Why this made Lily happy, why it gave her stomach that falling feeling, she didn't know. And, she reminded her self, he didn't think it'd be romantic. Remus did.

And she called him James. He wasn't Potter anymore, he was James. This was what worried her.

She didn't think of him as a jerk anymore.

Lily caught up with Violet, Mary, and Julia at breakfast and ate with them, next to Remus, Peter, and Sirius. James was sitting with the Quidditch team.

When the teams stood to leave for the pitch, the Ravenclaws cheered for Gryffindor, and the Slytherin cheered for Hufflepuff.

Five minutes later, all the other students started walking down to the pitch.

"LILY! HEY- LILY!"

Lily held her breath. She'd know that voice anywhere.

She turned around, and saw Amos Diggory running down to her, already in his Quidditch robes.

"Amos!" she said. "Hello!"

"Lily, I was wondering- next weekend is a - would you- um..." he stood for a second. Funnily enough, he wasn't as handsome and charming as she remembered.

"Want to go to Hogsmeade with me?" he asked.

Lily smiled. He may not be as cute as she had thought yesterday, but she had still wanted this for a long time.

"Sure, Amos. I'd love to. Meet me at ten outside the Great Hall on Saturday."

He beamed.

"Thanks!" he gulped nervously and took off for the locker room.

Lily turned around and found herself face-to-face with one Sirius Black.

"EVANS! YOU'RE FRATERNIZING WITH THE ENEMY!"

"What are you talking about, Black?" asked Lily, totally confused.

"HE'S A HUFFLEPUFF! WE'RE PLAYING THEM TODAY! QUIDDITCH! WAIT TILL I TELL PRONGS!"

Lily gasped. "No- Sirius- please don't-"

but he took off for the locker room at top speed.

Lily was bewildered. She didn't know what was bothering her more, the fact that she wasn't very excited to go out with Amos, or the fact that Sirius was telling James.

**Thanks for the reviews! Please, any suggestions are welcome! Review and make me happy! :D**

**oh, and:**

**lalala – there! He asked her out! :D**

**Allaray – they are at the end of Sixth Year! :D**


	3. The Game

**Sorry about the short chapter, but a lot happens in the next one and well... It's mid term week. Sorry!**

10 minutes later, the game was starting. And, despite her fear of heights, Lily was up in the stands watching.

Of course, as fate would have it, Amos was Captain of the Hufflepuff team, and James Captain of the Gryffindors.

When they walked across the field to shake hands, it was fairly obvious each was trying to break the others fingers.

"Amos is a Keeper, right?" Julia asked from Lily's right.

"Yep," said Lily, watching as Madam Meretrix spoke to the teams.

A mixture between amusement and worry crept over Julia's face.

"This'll be interesting, then..." and when Lily gave her a confused look, she said,

"James is a Chaser, and he's a Keeper. Think Lily!" she laughed at the dawn of comprehension that struck Lily's face, but they didn't speak again. The game had begun.

Five minutes in, trouble had started. Instead of trying to score when he had the Quaffle, he'd thrown it straight into the face of Amos Diggory, who almost fell off his broom. The Gryffindors in the crowd had just laughed... Until Hufflepuff got a penalty shot.

The next time James went to score, the snarl on his face was enough to make Amos scream loudly, (and rather high-pitched) and swerve straight away, leaving the goal posts wide open.

But all attention was drawn to the Seekers. In an attempt to end the game before James could do anything _to_ bad to Amos, both Seekers had started searching vigorously for the Snitch. Well, Gryffindors Seeker Darren Lorem had found it, and Hufflepuffs Seeker Zachary Criss was hot on his trail. And then, with the crowd on their feet, they watched as the Gryffindor Seeker was struck with a Bludger. He fell off his broom about 10 feet in the air, and fell down roughly. And Zachary Criss clasped the Snitch firmly in his hand. James wasn't paying any attention to the fact that his Seeker was on the floor, barely moving. The rest of the team was clustered around him. James landed and threw his broom aside, and stomped off into the direction of the castle.

So...?


	4. Unbearably Cute

**Hey guys! Someone in the reviews of last chapter said James was a Seeker. This confuses me, but everyone that I talk to that says he's a Seeker says that in Philosophers Stone, Ron finds out that Harry is the same position as his dad when he burps slugs onto a trophy. But Ron burped slugs in Chamber of Secrets, not Philosophers Stone. So, if it was you who left that review, could you tell me where you found it? Because James is my favorite character and if I'm wrong, I want to know. Thanks!**

**Also, YAY! Some people got my Darren Criss reference! If you don't know what I'm talking about, I suggest you go to Youtube and watch A Very Potter Musical!:)**

**On with the story!**

Julia was watching him go with concern. "It's not like him to not care about his Seeker,"

Lily, however, was furious. "HOW DARE HE!" She cried. "Darren could be hurt! And he just LEFT!"

"Lily," Mary said. "Calm down."

"I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!" She shrieked.

Julia leaned over to Mary and whispered, "Me thinks the sleeping lion woke up."

Lily rolled her eyes, ran down the steps, and started for the castle. Part of her wanted to stay and congratulate Amos, but she had a bone to pick with Potter.

She searched everywhere, even the boys dorm, (but left quickly, Remus was trying to sleep- that poor soul was sick _again._) but there was no sign of Potter anywhere. After dinner, she cornered Black, and demanded to know where he was, but Black just shrugged. "I'm not his keeper, Evans." and he strutted off towards a group of girls with Peter on his tail.

Finally, long past curfew, Lily found something. The door to the astronomy tower was open. Lily followed it, and stood for a few minutes in silence, at the very top. She thought of her dream last night, and how Amos had asked her out today. Thinking about that date didn't have the same sinking feeling that thinking about James did. She hated this. One time, _one time,_ the boy sneaks into her bedroom -very stalker like- and she can't stop thinking about him.

She didn't understand. After years of hating him, suddenly she wished it was Potter she had a date with.

She looked up to the stars. "James," she sighed. She was about to say, _get out of my head,_ when an all to familiar voice said,

"Yes?"

Lily yelped and turned around. Pulling off an Invisibility Cloak was James Potter.

Before she could tell him just how angry she was at him for:

A) Leaving the Quidditch Pitch with a hurt Seeker,

B) Scaring the 1st years by freaking out the Hufflepuff Quidditch team during the game,

and

C)Hitting Amos with the Quaffle,

James said, "I know, I know. And I'm sorry." he crossed to her, and was _way_ to close to want to just be friends.

"I'm sorry... For everything."

and then Lily said something really intelligent. Like,

"Ahhmas izzz... water?"

He laughed alittle and went,

"One more time?"

Lily felt her cheeks growing red, and admitted,

"I was going to say, 'Amos is'... but I forgot and tried to ask for water..."

He smiled. Man, his smile could knock any girl off her feet. But luckily, Lily managed to stay standing.

"Well, I don't have my wand to conjur **(A/N: I couldn't find how to spell 'conjur'. I still don't know. Please, don't correct me. I'm fine with not knowing.) **any for you, I'm sorry. It's still in the locker room."

Lily looked at his clothes for the first time. He was still in his Quidditch robes.

"Oh." She didn't know what else to say. Now that she was here, she didn't feel like talking about the match. Or Amos. So she said,

"It figures you would have an Invisibility Cloak. That's how you pull all your pranks. And hide from teachers. And from me."

He nodded. "Yeah, it's how I pull pranks with Sirius, Remus and Peter. And we hide from the teachers under it."

"Cool." She nodded to. He laughed again.

"What?" she asked, alittle defensive.

"Nothing. You're just... So... Unbearably cute."

Her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped so far, she wouldn't be surprised if it fell off the tower and hit the bottom.

"_Excuse me?"_

He looked embarrassed and frighted.

"Nothing. Forget I spoke. I didn't say a word. In fact, you didn't even see me tonight. You came up here and I stayed under my cloak and left, and you never even knew I was here." and he threw the Cloak back over himself, and without her saying another word, ran at top speed for the door.

**Lots of reviews make me a happy camper!:) I think only one more chapter. Thoughts?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi! New update! As I'm writing this, the light in my room is flickering. It's really quite creepy.**

Lily stood there, listening to his hurried footsteps travel down the stairs.

"_Unbearably cute?" _she said to herself. And she giggled. Really, who says this sort of stuff?

And she recalled what he's said about hiding under the Cloak.

_' "It figures you would have an Invisibility Cloak. That's how you pull all your pranks. And hide from teachers. And from me."_

_He nodded. "Yeah, it's how I pull pranks with Sirius, Remus and Peter. And we hide from the teachers under it." '_

She'd mentioned herself, but he hadn't. He doesn't hide from her because he likes her.

He really does. He even liked her when she was friends with Sev. His loud proclamations of love to her were real. He likes her. He might even _love _her. At least, he always said so.

Lily might not love him yet, but she was a hell of a lot closer that before.

_**~0~**_

Julia was sitting on the couch with Remus, waiting for James. Sirius was up in the boys room with the Map.

The _Map. _She still couldn't believe her cousin was smart enough to make that thing. Not that James was stupid, but... Well, never mind.

Sirius came down the boy's stairs.

"He's coming. He was on the Astronomy Tower with Evans."

Julia grinned. She was glad that James and Lily were getting along. Really, she didn't understand why Lily didn't like James. Everyone said Julia was James in female-form, and she and Lily got along wonderfully.

Remus rubbed his eyes. "I'll miss you tomorrow." He told Julia.

She squeezed his hand. "I'll miss you, too."

Tomorrow night was the full moon, and Julia always felt bad for Remus. Especially after what happened to her own little sister, Lucy. But before she could dwell on that thought anymore, the portrait hole swung open.

_**~0~**_

James nodded to his friends and cousin when he entered to common room. He didn't stop to talk, but went straight up the steps. After a moment, Sirius, Remus, and Julia came in. Peter was in the library doing mandatory tutoring.

Remus and Julia were standing close, and holding hands, as though it was their last day together. James was okay with this, because usually his cousin and friend didn't act like they were a couple unless they were alone. Just because they were in a relationship didn't mean everyone had to see. James liked this, because Julia was like his younger sister. Even though they were the same age.

"Hey Prongs," Sirius said. "You okay?"

James felt himself shrug. He'd lost the Quidditch Cup _again. _He'd won it before, but never as team captain.

Even worse, he'd made a fool of himself in front of Lily. Julia was looking at him curiously, and she seemed to guess.

"What'd you say?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "Um..."

James didn't really want to say in front of the boys, but they were his best friends. He'd been through more with them then anyone else. These men were his brothers. His family. He trusted them not to laugh.

This was a mistake. James knew Sirius didn't mean anything by laughing, but this didn't stop him from chucking his pillow at the boy. Sirius caught it in his mouth like a dog, and had Julia wrestle it away. She enjoyed it, being a dog person. But when she tried to return the now slobbered on pillow to James, he make a face and threw it onto Sirius's bed.

"James, I'm sure that Lily thought it was cute. I would've. Really, it was sweet."

He shrugged again. Padfoot's reaction had him worried.

Speaking of the dog, he began jumping on his bed. "Prongs! The Map! Lily! _She's coming up the steps to our room!_"

Julia jumped up and shouted "That's our cue! Come on, boys!"

She tried to go out the door, but Remus steered her away.

"No! That's where Lily is-"

A knock sounded outside. "James? Can we... talk?"

James grabbed Sirius and Remus, (and Julia, because Remus and her were still holding hands) and shoved them towards the bathroom door. Luckily, they got the hint and ran, locking the door behind them.

"Um, sure, Lily. Come on in." His hand jumped to his hair as usual, but this time, he tried to flatten it, not mess it up.

It was still a hopeless attempt.

She came in, and his breath caught in his throat. Nothing was different about her, but the room always seemed to light up when she walked in. She was biting her lower lip, and he thought about it again.

_You're so... Unbearably cute._

He mentally smacked himself. How could he say something so stupid? Sure, he meant what he said, but that didn't make it any better! She probably thought he was an idiot. A stupid, sappy, cheesy, cornball, idiot boy.

"That was really sweet... What you said."

Or maybe there was still hope.

"Really?"

She walked to him, took his hand, and they sat on his bed.

It could've been a perfect moment. He could've said more sappy stuff, and kiss her, and everything would go swimmingly, and the would date for the rest of their Hogwarts days, and they would get married, and live where his family has for generations, in Godric's Hallow and have two kids, and live happily ever after.

But he thought about what he heard her say in her sleep.

"You still like Amos?"  
She bit down on her lip again.

"Not... Not really. I mean, I know I used to, but now..."

He nodded his understanding. Teen crushes never lasted long.

Which is how he knew he truly loved Lily. Years, _years, _of telling her, years of shouting it down the halls, years of notes and cards, years of dressing up first years as cupid on Valentines day and making them sing to her for Sickles, and years of rejections... And he never gave up.

She was watching him think. It was fine with her, the silence. He was cute when he was think about something. And when he looked at her, his eyes seemed to get a shade lighter. Like she was bringing out his soul, and staring right into it.

Hazel eyes. What beautiful hazel eyes. His dark hair was perfect. It stuck up at the back, but he could pull it off. It make him look better.

She couldn't believe it. One time the boy sneaks into her room, and she _seeing his soul in his eyes._

"Are you still going out with him on Saturday?"

He was looking so upset about the idea, it made her heart soften.

She thought before answering,

"I think I might have a fever that day."

He smiled.

**Sorry about the weird stopping point, but I think that's a good sized chapter, don't you? Let me know what you think about Julia, I've been thinking about doing a story focusing on her. About **_**her **_**raising Harry. To see how his life would've been different if he'd been raised by a TOTALLY AWESOME Potter.**

**Okay, I know it's called Chapter 5, but... I really can't think of a name for this. If you can think of something, let me know. **

**THANKS FOR READING!**

**Let me know what you all think! REVIEW! I COMMAND YOU! OR... OR I'LL EAT YOUR FAVORITE PILLOW! :D**

**(that was an empty threat.)**


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